Now Shipping: Everquest: Platinum

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Sony Online Entertainment Inc., a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, announced today that EverQuest: Platinum, an affordable, all-inclusive collection that offers the original game as well as the first seven expansion packs, The Ruins of Kunark, The Scars of Velious, The Shadows of Luclin, The Planes of Power, The Legacy of Ykesha, Lost Dungeons of Norrath, and Gates of Discord will be available in stores for the suggested retail price of $29.99.

"If you have yet to experience the online gaming phenomenon known as EverQuest, now is the perfect time to do so," said Don Vercelli, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Sony Online Entertainment. "EverQuest: Platinum offers players the opportunity to experience an enchanting online fantasy world that took five years of hard work to create in one comprehensive package at a very reasonable price."

Perfect for the new player or a great addition for the current player, EverQuest: Platinum offers a living, breathing online fantasy world filled with hundreds of thousands of players. Journey as a fierce barbarian warrior or an evil dark elf shadowknight, the choice is yours as you explore over 350 square miles of virtual environments filled with over a million non-player characters to encounter and over 40,000 unique items to discover. The world of EverQuest is a land with no limits where adventure and excitement reign supreme.

EverQuest: Platinum features:

EverQuest Classic: discover more than 70 perilous zones while exploring three enormous continents in the world of Norrath

EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark: adventure on a new continent as the award-winning Kunark provides 30% more gaming space, a new playable race, the Iksar, and allows for players to exceed the level 50 character limit.

EverQuest: The Scars of Velious: the frozen continent of Velious expands the world of Norrath by 20% and offers 18 perilous new zones and dozens of quests for characters level 35+

EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin: supported by a complete graphic overhaul, Luclin offers more than 27 new beginner, mid-level and advanced zones including a new starting city, enchanting moonscape of Luclin, new playable race, the Vah Shir, and rideable horses to own, summon and ride into battle.

EverQuest: The Planes of Power: players have access to the most powerful deities in Norrath in the Planes of Power as the enormous planar city, the Plane of Knowledge, provides a hub for easy travel and player interaction. More than 20 new action-packed "planes" challenge players and push teamwork abilities to the limit and an increased level cap to 65 allows players to develop more powerful characters than ever before.

EverQuest: The Legacy of Ykesha: epic adventures await with all-new zones to explore, new playable race, Frogloks, additional bank slots and a customizable PC armor dye system enables player to personalize armor.

EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath: "dungeon crawls" through private instanced zones provide players with the classic RPG feeling of exploration and action through more than 40 diverse environments.

EverQuest: Gates of Discord: a new continent on the far side of the globe is under assault by the forces of Chaos. This expansion opens the Berserker class, as well as adding 20 new zones, group raiding tools, 20 new NPCs and dozens of new spells, items and abilities.